2015 sees Vanilla Pod enter their twentieth year as a band and with a decent sized back catalogue behind them it would have been easy for them to decide to celebrate this milestone with a nostalgic re-release of their past material and nothing more. To their credit there’s no suggestion of that ever having been an option as they’ve instead chosen to celebrate getting this far by not only holding their own festival Podstock, alongside the likes of Snuff, Goober Patrol and Capdown, but also by releasing ‘Seeing Out The Sunshine’, their first record since 2009.
Vanilla Pod may have gone through nearly enough line-up changes to field their own football team, but their take on melodic punk has always remained consistent throughout, despite the potential for disruption. ‘She’s Dead Now’ is the high tempo blast of melodic punk that you would expect from the Kings Lynn natives and they power through it in little over one minute with a renewed sense of energy. It certainly gets the adrenaline going and sets the scene for ‘Wishing Well’ with its near-perfect opening riff, Hot Water Music-esque structure and vocal delivery. It’s not only the best song on this mini-album but also one of the best they’ve ever written.
The rest of ‘Seeing Out The Sunshine’ continues to find the Norfolk punks playing to their strengths and although ‘G.T.B’ lacks the hooks of the other songs it’s still classic Vanilla Pod as the fast fretwork and skate-punk drum beat drive the song along. Vanilla Pod have never allowed themselves to get sidetracked by scene trends, and ‘Leaving The Bentinck Dock’ and ‘Restore Factory Settings’ are two more brilliant songs that show they haven’t lost their knack for writing honest and catchy melodic punk.
Many of their contemporaries whom they once played alongside have called it a day for one reason or another and you could argue that were it not for the turnover of band members that Vanilla Pod would have followed suit; but with forthcoming UK tour dates, the aforementioned Podstock, and plans to tour Europe, Vanilla Pod remain as driven as they were when they formed back in 1995. Therefore it’s best to approach ‘Seeing Out The Sunrise’ as a record that is equal parts a celebration of their career so far and a tantalising glimpse into what the future might hold for the long-standing and hard-working band.
CHRIS HILSON